by Day Leitao
Or maybe she should just forget about it all and relax. She lay down across her bed, with feet on the floor, staring at the ceiling. As much as she tried to deny it, she was anxious that maybe she would never find anyone special for her. But she dreaded finding a jerk. Imagine Karina with a jerk? And then she dreaded even more finding someone who would break her heart. Or someone who would make her forget who she was. Not that she really knew that yet. But she didn’t want to stop asking.
A noise startled her. It sounded like water boiling or strong wind. Fair enough, these sounds are not similar, but it was something in the middle. It wasn’t outside, it wasn’t in the kitchen, but in her own bedroom. Karina tried to look, but there was such an intense light, even though it was still day outside, that she feared for her eyes and turned away. When she finally peeked, she didn’t see anything. Great, imagining things again. True that last time she thought she had imagined something it had turned out to be real. Real. How real? When it was all far away, in a land or dimension that she could no longer reach, stuck in her memories without anyone to share, it was hard to feel that way.
Whyland. The memory of an adventure now long gone. A whole new world she never again found. Why was she thinking about it again? Well, a sound in her bedroom, a strong light. Maybe those things rang a bell?
That sound again. And the light. When the light stopped, Karina looked. Her heart almost stopped.
Was it real? Two teenagers stood in her bedroom. Cayla and Darian! Karina was so happy to see them that she was going to ignore the fact that a guy just came into her room without being announced. At least Karina wasn’t getting dressed. Last time she’d seen them, Cayla was the princess of Whyland, while Darian was her… Uh, Karina hoped they had stopped with any silliness and sorted out their feelings for each other by now. Whyland wasn’t lost after all.
2
An invitation
The two intruders, or visitors, seemed a bit confused and had their eyes closed. They were surrounded by white fog. A rock star entrance. Of course, had they been rock stars they would have stepped in the room with eyes open, oozing confidence. Cayla held Darian’s hand. Holding hands was necessary for teleporting. But still, they looked cute and warmed Karina’s heart.
Karina wanted to help them out of their confusion. “You’re here. You can open your eyes.”
Cayla opened her eyes, looked around, then walked towards Karina and hugged her. “Good to see you.”
Only then, when she touched Cayla, did Karina believe that it was real, that they were actually there. It had all been so sudden. It was also good to see Cayla and know that she was all right. “Past time you made a visit!”
Cayla laughed. “If I could I would have dropped by earlier.”
Darian looked dizzy, but slowly he opened his eyes, looked around, and acknowledged Karina. “Hi.”
They hadn’t aged more than Karina had, which either meant that there was no significant time difference between the two dimensions, or that people there didn't age as fast. Cayla wore dark green pants and a jacket in what looked like suede. Her marvelous shiny black hair was tied in a loose ponytail hanging over a shoulder. Darian had his same brown hair to the chin and wore brown pants and a jacket. His brown eyes reminded Karina of his older brother. In fact, Darian did look a little like him, with the difference that Darian had more delicate facial features and wasn’t as tall. For the first time, she noticed that Darian was actually quite good looking. With all the craziness last time and with him being Cayla’s whatever, Karina hadn’t registered his attractiveness level, but now she realized that he and Cayla were quite a stunning couple. Each of them had a necklace with a clear orange stone, and Karina remembered with amusement how she’d been surprised that they could use the stones to communicate with each other. Her surprise hadn’t been silly, as communicating necklaces were rare even in Whyland.
Darian looked at Cayla as if expecting something, and Cayla bit her lip and looked down.
Karina considered their expressions and came to a conclusion. “You want something from me.”
Darian and Cayla looked at each other. Karina was right. She felt giddy because she thought they would ask her to go to Whyland, and she had wanted to go back there for a long time.
Cayla sighed. “It’s a huge favor, and it’s not easy, but Darian believes you can help him.”
Darian? Karina couldn’t imagine what he’d want with her, as she barely knew him. “What is it?”
“My brother,” he said.
The name came as a whisper from Karina’s lips, “Sian.”
Karina’s heart raced. She hadn’t known him well, other than spending some 20 or 30 minutes with him because he wanted to keep Cayla hostage and take the kingdom for himself and his evil father. Despite these small nasty details, Sian had been polite to Karina. She remembered with embarrassment that she felt flustered and speechless because he kept flirting with her. Life had taught her to ignore those types, but, being her first time, she felt confused. Sian did send her a book—Cayla’s mother had brought it to Karina—but all she could picture was a superiority smirk on his face while he told her that she needed to know more about Whyland.
Darian continued, “I know you didn’t get to know each other much, and—”
“What is it? Just tell me.” Karina hated long, unnecessary explanations, and was too anxious to hear them.
He looked at Cayla, who nodded, then said, “He’s under a spell. There’s a way to get him back, and you might be able to help.”
Of course, having magical or even non-magical objects from other dimensions kind of did some trick. “Does it have something to do with the book?”
Darian shook his head. “Not directly. It’s… I think you can break the spell.”
“Me?” It sounded strange, but maybe not so much. Karina remembered that, at least in theory, she had magical power in Whyland because people have more power when they go to different dimensions. The only issue was that she had no clue on the nature of her power or any idea how to use it. “Because of my magic?”
Darian looked down. “I guess you could call it that.”
Cayla turned to him and squinted. “Just tell her.”
He cleared his throat and spoke fast. “That spell can be broken with a kiss.”
Karina had heard that somewhere. “Like in fairy tales?”
“You mean stories?” He shrugged. “They gotta be based on something.”
Karina was used to enough weird stuff not to argue with that logic. But hang on. What she’d need to do dawned on her. “What do I have to do with a kiss?”
Cayla said, “A kiss, uh, usually involves—you know—two people.” She put her two hands together, mimicking two mouths connecting.
“I know what a kiss is. But why me?”
Darian sighed, then said, “It’s a kiss of true love.”
Karina felt a hollowness in her stomach. “You don’t expect me to—”
“It’s not that,” Cayla said. “It can work both ways. Of course you’d never love or feel anything for Sian. We know that. But it can work the other way around as well. Receiving a kiss from someone you love does the trick.”
Karina didn’t know how to feel. The guy was weird and maybe a little annoying. But love her? “That doesn’t make any sense. I saw him for what? Half an hour at most. He just said I was pretty, but I’m sure he says that to every girl he meets, doesn’t he?”
Darian and Cayla replied at the same time. “Of course not,” he said, while she said, “Well, yes.”
Darian and Cayla glared at each other. She said, “You don’t want to lie to her.”
“I’m not lying. We don’t know it.”
Cayla shook her head in annoyance and turned to Karina. “Sian is not somebody you could trust, and not somebody I’d trust to be in love with anyone but himself.”
Darian said, “But he told me to send the book with all his love. Fair enough, he said he had a broad definition of love, whatever that is. But
as far as I know, it counts. He went to great lengths to make sure you got a book. So there’s something there.”
Cayla looked up as if thinking. “That’s true. My mother was freaking out.” She made a shrill voice. “You can’t bring objects across dimensions.” She laughed. “But she agreed in the end.”
Karina was happy to hear Cayla talking about her mother like that.
Cayla continued, “I know in theory it’s a kiss of true love, but I think it’s just because if they called it a kiss of superficial attraction it wouldn’t have the same ring.”
Darian shook his head. “Not necessarily.”
“They barely know each other,” Cayla said.
“So what?” He shrugged. “Never heard of love at first sight?”
“You mean superficial attraction? That’s what I was saying.”
“Fair enough,” Karina interrupted. These two would never reach a conclusion. “Can’t you find any of the other girls comprised in his…” Karina looked up and grimaced. “…broad definition of love, superficial attraction, love at first sight, or whatever?” She didn’t want to upset anyone by using inappropriate terminology. And as much as she obviously wanted to go to Whyland, she also wanted to understand what was going on.
Darian shrugged. “I don’t know him that well. We, we didn’t get along.”
That was an understatement. These were two brothers who had been in opposite sides of an armed conflict.
Darian continued, “I know we had our problems, but he’s the only family I have. I don’t know who else to ask. His friend came to me. Since Sian sent you a book, you’re the only girl anyone has a clear clue, a clear lead.”
“This time it will be quicker,” Cayla added. “We’ll go to where he is, you kiss the statue, and you can come back.”
“Statue?”
“Yeah,” Darian said. “That’s what the spell is. He’s been petrified.”
A knot formed in her stomach as the image of a motionless Sian crossed her mind. Karina took a deep breath. “How long is it gonna take?”
“Some two, three hours,” Cayla replied.
“In your time?”
Cayla shook her head. “The time difference is gone. But it’s just two hours or so. We can’t teleport straight to where he is.”
Two hours. That would be fine. Karina wouldn’t let a person remain transformed into a statue, of course. And she liked the idea of going to Whyland again. But still, one thing irked her. “You know, I have friends who ask for favors, but they also drop by sometimes, or do me favors, or, you know, act like friends.”
Cayla said, “You have no idea how difficult it’s been to teleport after the blue tower was destroyed. We took days trying to figure it out. And my mother can’t know about it.”
Of course. Dropping by and acting like friends wasn't easy when they lived in a different dimension. Karina should just be glad that they even came back. “Are you sure it’s just two hours?”
“It could be even less,” Cayla said.
“What if it doesn’t work?”
“At least we’ll have tried,” Darian said. “I’ll try something else, then.”
Something else. Or someone else?
The whole plan sounded ludicrous, and it wasn't that Karina didn’t believe Sian had had some kind of—very superficial—feelings for her, it was just that she wasn’t sure that the nature of those feelings would warrant breaking a spell.
Breaking a spell. Fairytale land again. She had learned to accept quite a few things. But maybe she shouldn’t be that accepting. “And what if there’s a catch? I mean, if it’s some bad guy’s plan, or if he’s actually been imprisoned by the good guys, or…” She ran out of ideas.
Darian said, “We don’t really know what happened. I know my brother’s not perfect. He can be selfish and greedy, but I don’t think he is a bad person. It won’t really matter for you. All you’ll need to do is kiss him and go home.”
Right. What a first kiss. Karina swallowed. They probably didn’t know it would be her first. Go to a parallel dimension, break a spell, and then come back home, having to forget that somewhere, someone kind of loved her, maybe in a very superficial way, but still. The danger Karina felt was not physical, but something else she couldn’t quite point out. But hey, adventure, knowledge. Drink up the world. She wanted all that. And she trusted her head over her shoulders that it would not go over her heels. Or at least she hoped. Sian wasn’t that good looking anyway. Not ugly either. Far from ugly. Better not think about it.
Karina felt she had to bargain, and turned to Cayla. “I’ll do this, of course, but please, promise you’ll invite me to spend some time in Whyland. Later, when everything is sorted out.”
Cayla shrugged. “You could stay longer now. I just thought… I don’t know, you’d want to get home quickly.”
“I do. I have a test and a project on Monday. But some other day.”
“We can try to set something up when things are calmer,” Cayla said. “It hasn’t been easy lately.”
Maybe things would never be calm. Karina felt a chill in her stomach. She could be wasting an opportunity to stay longer. But at least she was going. “Let’s go,” Karina said.
Cayla looked at Karina’s clothes. “You should wear something warmer. It’s kind of cold where we’re going.”
Indeed Darian and Cayla were not dressed for summer. Karina, who was wearing yoga pants and a tank top, grabbed a hoodie and tied it on her waist. She doubted it would be that cold. For a second she wanted to put at least some mascara and blush on, but she didn't want them to think she was trying to… She didn't even know what she didn't want them to think or why she felt like looking better, but whatever. It was just a quick kiss to break a spell; meaningless. She’d better remember that. Meaningless. Meaningless.
Cayla got up and held Darian’s hand. Karina was about to hold Cayla’s hand when she remembered something.
“Wait,” she said.
Karina texted Zoe. She needed an excuse in case her mother wondered about her, and in case she took longer than expected. Karina put her phone on the desk, then held Cayla’s hand. The girl stared at Karina’s phone but didn’t say anything. Karina closed her eyes. Nothing happened. And some more time passed. And nothing happened.
“It’s not working,” Cayla said.
Karina had a guess. “Could it be that we’re too many people? Maybe we’ll have to do two by two?”
“It could be,” Cayla replied. “The tower we used to open this portal isn’t very solid. Wait here. I’ll go with Darian and come back.”
Karina nodded. She wanted to see what happened, but again there was so much light that she was forced to look away. A few minutes passed, and Cayla did not return. Great. What if they had gotten stuck or something? What if Cayla couldn't teleport alone? Maybe nothing was going to happen. Karina feared that she had just let Whyland slip through her fingers. She also worried about Sian. No, Cayla would figure a way to return. They had already come so far. A phone call snapped her out of her thoughts.
It was Zoe. “What’s up?”
I'm going to a parallel dimension to break a spell with a kiss. No, that sounded weird. “I’m busy,” Karina said. “If by any chance my mom calls asking for me, tell her I’m with you.”
“But she’ll call you.”
“I’ll leave my phone at home.”
“What are you doing?” Zoe sounded curious.
“Nothing.”
“Nothing doesn’t require excuses. Spill it.” Zoe was giggling.
“I’ll tell you tomorrow.” If she found a good excuse by then.
“And what do I get for the favor?”
“I do a lot of favors for you and I never ask for anything in return.”
“Uh, ok,” Zoe said. “But then you should consider I’m doing a favor without asking for anything in return and do me a favor without asking for anything in return.”
“Like doing the entire science project on my own?”
“We’re even on that. I meant Josh.”
Nightmarish. “Whatever, Zoe. If anyone contacts you, tell them you haven’t seen me in years.”
Karina hung up. She wasn’t about to be blackmailed.
A strong light appeared in her room. Cayla.
Karina smiled. “You took forever!”
“It’s hard to teleport alone. And we’re doing it from a dingy, broken, old tower.” Cayla looked at Karina. “I’m sorry for asking you to come and asking you to do this. And you’re right; I shouldn’t come here only asking for favors. I know Sian is a scumbag. And Darian might be wrong. But he insists, so it’s better to give it a try.”
Karina smiled. “It’s fine, really. I actually like to help.”
Cayla shuddered. “I wouldn’t want to kiss someone… Sorry. I know it’s disgusting.”
Weird. As much as Karina couldn’t find the exact words to describe the idea of kissing Sian, she was absolutely certain that disgusting wasn’t among them. And Cayla said it as if she’d have to kiss an ogre or something, which was way over the top.
Cayla continued, “But it’s quick, and he’s petrified, so it won’t be real. I can’t say it in front of Darian, you know. Imagine me saying: ‘oh, I’m sorry you have to kiss his sleazy brother.’ But you can do it and come back, and you’ll never have to see him again.”
Karina just wanted her friend to shut up. “Don’t worry.”
Karina’s phone buzzed. It had a text from Zoe: just kidding, silly.
“What’s that?” Cayla asked.
“My communication device,” Karina said as she texted: me too. Smiley face.
“It’s different. Can’t you talk in your thing?”
“We’ve been forgetting the ability to talk to people.”
Cayla looked puzzled.
Karina laughed. “I’m kidding. We can talk. But for some weird reason, we prefer to write.” She then shrugged. “Shall we go?”